1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains generally to circuit board fabrication, and more particularly to a copper/metal laminated structure for use in the manufacture of printed circuit boards.
2. Description of the Background Art
In early stages of manufacturing technology, printed circuit board (PCB) lay-up panels were laminated using presses similar to those used in the wood industry for laminating, for example, sheets of plywood. Hydraulic-driven presses were used, and steam or electric power was used to heat the presses to temperatures exceeding 350.degree. F. The panel components in the presses were submitted to pressures between 300 psi and 500 psi at 3500.degree. F. for approximately one hour to achieve lamination. Highly polished and precision ground stainless steel plates approximately 0.060 inches thick were used to separate each panel within a press opening. Typically, a T-304 full hard alloy or equivalent material was used for these plates. A problem, however, was that these stainless steel separator plates required cleaning or scrubbing to remove debris after every use and periodically needed to be resurfaced to remove dents and scratches due to handling and use. Eventually, the plates had to be replaced.
During the late 1980's, the introduction of vacuum assisted presses permitted the use of lower pressures during the lamination cycle. The pressures used in vacuum assisted presses typically ranged from approximately 150 psi to 250 psi, as opposed to the 300 psi to 500 psi range used in the hydraulic steam driven or electric presses. With vacuum assisted presses, aluminum separator sheets ranging in thickness from 0.007 to 0.015 inches were tested and then used extensively. Test results published during that time indicated that thin aluminum separator plates far exceeded the performance of steel plates for laminating PCB panels. These thin aluminum separator sheets were discarded after the lamination process, thus eliminating the need for expensive steel plate cleaning and handling operations and the frequent and high capital investment needed to replace the steel plates. The alloy used for aluminum separator plates is typically 3000 series (e.g. 3003, 3004, 3105 or equivalent) with a H19 hardness designation, which is identical to the alloy used to make aluminum beverage cans. The process using thin aluminum separator sheets along with low pressure from vacuum assisted presses has worked well for typical 4 layer to 6 layer PCB's with circuit lines of approximately 0.008 inches in width and approximately 0.008 inches apart. A typical configuration in a press opening would be a steel plate on top and bottom of the stack with thin aluminum sheets separating each PCB panel. The rate of production in these vacuum assisted presses increased to about 10-14 PCB panels per typical 11/2 inch press opening from the 6 to 8 PCB panels achieved using stainless steel sheets.
Technological advancements, however, have driven a need for PCBs having more and denser circuitry. This means that circuits must have finer lines (less than 0.006 inches wide) and closer spacing between circuit lines (less than 0.006 inches). Denser surfaces on a PCB permit a higher quantity of electrical components to be mounted thereon, thus enabling faster information processing and greater miniaturization of electronic hardware. These greater technological demands have made the surface quality of the laminated circuit board panels even more critical. Problems such as surface roughness and image transfer that also previously existed, have now become critical issues that require resolution, as any minute bump on the surface of the aluminum sheet will be transferred to the top surface of the board necessitating scraping the board and reworking the PCB fabrication process.
To prevent and minimize scrap and rework due to image transfer and surface quality problems, almost every press configuration used today employs stainless steel plates (usually T-304 or T-600 stainless steel) placed adjacent to the thin aluminum separator sheets in addition to on the top and bottom of the stack. Many press loads have at least three steel plates added to the lay-up, which then reduces the number of panels that can be laminated in each press cycle. Some of the lay-up configurations have both aluminum sheets and steel plates separating every panel in the press, with the aluminum separator sheets being discarded after the press cycle. This approach, however, has not completely cured the problem as it causes a decrease in the production rate of the press. Also, pits, dents and other surface imperfections due to the re-introduction of steel plates into the process are still causing scrap and rework of PCB panels. Moreover, many PCB fabricators have to purchase additional new stainless steel plates and again install expensive plate cleaning and handling systems. Although the thin aluminum separator sheets are discarded after every press cycle, the steel plates must be cleaned before each use, adding additional operational steps and cost to the PCB fabrication process. To maintain production demands, fabricators must purchase additional vacuum presses, at a cost of approximately $250,000 to $1,000,000 per unit, to compensate for the loss of productivity due to the re-introduction of steel plates into the PCB fabrication process.
Today, fabricators are producing between 3 and 8 PCB panels on high technology dense boards with more quality problems and at a high cost. Dense state of the art PCB's now require 2 separators, a steel plate and a thin sheet of aluminum. This is an expensive step backward to the beginning of the evolution of the PCB fabrication process. Accordingly, there is a need for a separator that allows PCB production to be maximized, eliminates the surface quality and image transfer problems associated with aluminum separator sheets and eliminates the constant cleaning and scrubbing required of stainless steel separator plates. The present invention satisfies those needs, as well as others, and generally overcomes the deficiencies found in the background art.